The great gay marriage revolt: More than 100 Tory MPs set to defy Cameron and trigger biggest Tory party rebellion in modern times

The full extent of the revolt among Tory MPs over plans to allow gay marriage was revealed last night. In all, more than 100 Conservatives out of 303 have written to constituents indicating their unease. If they all vote against, it would be the biggest Tory rebellion in modern times.

Backbencher Douglas Carswell, one of those who will vote against, said: ‘I think you’ve got to have your head stuck in the Westminster bubble to think this is a priority.’

The vote could happen as early as January after Mr Cameron decided this week to ‘get it done and get it done quickly’.

They are an eclectic bunch – including a former breakfast TV presenter, a former top City investment manager, a Liverpool football fan and a gay friend of Margaret Thatcher.

But all have one thing in common: they are among the many Tory MPs who bitterly oppose David Cameron’s controversial policy to make gay marriage legal.

Altogether, there are at least 118 Tory MPs (out of a total of 303) who, the Mail can reveal, have condemned the proposal to redefine the centuries-old institution of marriage.

Their opposition has been expressed in letters and emails sent to constituents who have contacted them with their own concerns about the Government’s plans for gay marriage, which is set to become law within a matter of months.

The sheer scale of the opposition means Mr Cameron is facing what has become the biggest Tory rebellion in recent history.

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Even though the policy was not in the party’s election manifesto, his Old Etonian-dominated kitchen cabinet have told the PM that this legislation is a litmus test of his efforts to ‘decontaminate’ the Tories’ image on social issues.

Mr Cameron is honouring the
commitment he made at the Tory conference last year when he said: ‘I
don’t support gay marriage despite being a Conservative. I support gay
marriage because I’m a Conservative.’

Even
though No 10 has signalled that it will be a free vote in the Commons,
ministers will be under huge pressure to back the measure because the PM
has staked so much personal authority on the change.

Indeed,
last week George Osborne in an extraordinary move said he feared that
the Tories risked losing the next general election if they don’t allow
same-sex marriages.

Douglas Carswell is among the rebels

But the Chancellor is clearly ignoring the facts. For this week, a survey by the polling organisation ComRes found that 62 per cent of voters and 68 per cent of Tory supporters believe marriage should continue to be defined as a ‘life-long exclusive commitment between a man and a woman’.

A further 65 per cent said that plans to legalise gay marriage are ‘more to do with trying to make the Conservative Party look trendy and modern’ than a matter of conviction.

These findings are reinforced by a
petition set up by the lobby group Coalition For Marriage (C4M) which
has been signed by 612,000 people. It declares: ‘I support the legal
definition of marriage which is the voluntary union for life of one man
and one woman to the exclusion of all others.’

The
Prime Minister has exacerbated tension on the Tory benches by issuing
what has been described as a ‘guillotine’ – rushing the Bill into the
Commons to fast-track the reform.

It is C4M which has collated the correspondence from Tory MPs.

Among the MPs is right-winger David Jones. The solicitor, MP for Clwyd West, became Welsh Secretary in the last reshuffle and is regarded as a Cameron loyalist.

Yet the 60-year-old die-hard Liverpool fan made clear his opposition in an email to a constituent in March when he was already a junior minister. He said: ‘I believe marriage is an institution ordained to sanctify a union between a man and a woman. If a vote is called, I shall vote in accordance with my beliefs.’

His deputy at the Welsh Office is Stephen Crabb, 39. He said in an email earlier this year: ‘I share the view of a great many Christians and people of other faiths who have a strong conception of marriage as a union between a husband and wife. When it comes to re-defining the concept of marriage in law, I do not think that Parliament should seek to alter the current position.’

In a popularity poll of Tory MPs, Esther McVey, the new Minister for the Disabled, would be close to the top. The blonde former GMTV presenter, who has a large Catholic community in her Wirral West constituency and is a Catholic herself, wrote in a letter in July: ‘I remain concerned that re-defining marriage is unnecessary given the established legal rights, which effectively mirror marriage, for same-sex couples through civil partnerships. I presently intend to vote against the measure if it comes before Parliament.’

In an extraordinary move George Osborne said he feared that the Tories risked losing the next general election if they don¿t allow same-sex marriages

James Wharton, the 28-year-old MP for Stockton South, is the youngest Tory MP and one of the few Conservatives with a seat in the North East. But with a majority of only 332, he has one of the most marginal seats at Westminster and he rarely rebels against the Government.

But two weeks ago he wrote in an email about his concern about the ‘unique religious connotation’ of marriage and spoke of the risk of churches being forced to perform gay marriages under EU law.

‘I am minded to vote against when it comes before Parliament though I will of course look at the detail of the proposals when the time comes,’ he said.

By contrast, Andrea Leadsom, MP for South Northamptonshire, has a thumping majority of 20,000. A rising star, she was voted ‘backbencher to watch’ at this week’s Spectator magazine political awards.

She, too, opposes same-sex marriage. C4M said she sent an email to a constituent saying she was ‘not supportive’ of the law-change.

Next up, Simon Burns, 60, minister of state for transport and MP for Chelmsford. He wrote in an email on September 14: ‘As a Christian, I am only too aware of the controversies, not only surrounding this issue but other issues to do with equality.

‘While I fully support civil partnerships, which I believe allows two gay people to declare their lifelong commitment to each other, I am afraid that at this stage, the concept of gay marriage is too much in advance of public opinion and I am afraid that I would not support it in a vote in the Commons.’

Fellow Essex MP Douglas Carswell, 41, and a leading backbencher, wrote in a letter in April: ‘Although I believe in equal treatment for gay people and believe that all people should be able to live under the same laws, I am opposed to the Government’s proposals. I think there is something a little bit arrogant about ministers supposing that it is for them to redefine communal rules that have existed for centuries.’

Among those on the Government payroll who are anti-gay marriage is Energy and Climate Change Minister John Hayes.

The 54-year-old MP for South Holland and the Deepings in Lincolnshire wrote in an email: ‘People’s private lives are a matter for them. Marriage on the other hand is not an entirely private matter. It is a civil institution.

‘If, as I hope, there is a free vote in Parliament on this issue as it is a matter of conscience, I shall be voting against changing the law to introduce marriage between homosexuals.’

One of the few ministers to have been brought up on a council estate is Mike Penning, 55, MP for Hemel Hempstead. The ex-soldier and minister of state in the Northern Ireland Office was straight to the point when tackled by a constituent on the subject in April.

‘I have no intention of voting in favour of same sex marriage,’ he replied in a letter.

A one-time contender for the Tory leadership, John Redwood keeps the Thatcherite flame burning on the backbenches. He emailed in September: ‘The Lib Dems and Mr Cameron support the change to the marriage law. I am not seeking any change to the marriage law.’

Only two weeks ago, Andrew Robathan, 61, who was one of the first MPs to back Mr Cameron to replace Michael Howard as Tory leader, made clear his opposition. The MP for Blaby in Leicestershire wrote: ‘I shall almost certainly be voting against any proposal to bring forward gay marriage. I do not consider myself to be homophobic, but, apart from anything else, I do not think there is any demand for this.’

Another opponent is Gary Streeter, 55, who was a minister in the Major government and describes himself as a passionate supporter of Mr Cameron. The MP for South West Devon, a committed Christian who believes in faith healing, said in an interview in February: ‘I wish it were not happening …don’t try to tamper with the timeless concept and meaning of marriage, which for most of us does mean one man for one woman for life.’

The list of big-name Tories continues. Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury select committee, told a meeting of his local Tory association in Chichester, Sussex, that the proposals were ‘bonkers’.

He also said in a letter in August: ‘I believe that Parliamentary legislation should focus on those issues which matter to most people across the country: safeguarding their well-being and restoring the economy to health.’

One can only assume that the Tory whips have drawn Mr Cameron’s attention to this growing rebellion. In any case, it is now patently clear that the PM cannot write off opponents of his policy as the usual hardline right-wingers who have never been reconciled to his modernisation efforts.

After this week’s huge schism in the Church of England over the vote not to allow the appointment of women bishops, the Tory party is now facing its own equally bitter civil war.

Not only does David Cameron risk triggering what could easily lead to the biggest schism between a Prime Minister and his own parliamentary party in modern times, but if gay-marriage becomes law, he will have set up the biggest clash between the Church and State since the Reformation in the 16th century.